Desmo posted a release date but I forget what it was. If they were gonna have this out for this Christmas, we would be seeing more about it......... articles, interviews, trailers, demos etc.. I look for it to hit the shelves well into next year.

After the Battlefield 3 "announcement" last week indicated the game would be going multiplatform, many PC gamers were outraged, worrying the series' next flagship title would be tarnished for the sake of console players.

While EA wasn't willing to comment on the state of the PC version, we were able to dig up some info which should put your mind at ease -- scratch that, make it very excited.

Firstly, we learn via Twitter from DICE rendering architect Johann Andersson the engine BF3 is built on -- Frostbite 2.0 -- is "primarily developed for DirectX 11"; XP and DX9 won't be supported (though you may be able to hack it). Also the engine will be especially optmized for 64-bit -- thankfully a lot of you have chosen the road less travelled. Good news in itself, but since consoles only support DX9, the implication is the PC version will be a "true" PC game.

An interview between AMD and Anderrson back in November taught us DICE has been involved with DX11 from a very early stage, which helped them get in all the features and improvements important to the team, like multicore optimization, multithreading support (more variation, detail, improved load times, smoother performance), compute shader support (more dynamic light sources), and lastly, tesselation (more detailed and more realistically rendered objects). It's a fascinating read for tech heads, so give the full interview a look if you're interested. Also check out a more in-depth look at the features in our DirectX 11 By the Numbers article http://www.neoseeker.com/news/10951-amd ... e-numbers/. The short version is this: Battlefield 3 should be a huge jump forward that will please those with great hardware, particularly if it's running on Windows 7 64-bit.

Now, many players are worrying BF3 will turn out more like Bad Company 2. While DICE did do a pretty good job in making it feel like a PC title, it's no classic Battlefield.

Firstly, you must understand Bad Company 2 was never a "true" Battlefield game, so it's not fair to assume this is the direction DICE will be heading in, at least on PC. Series associate producer Barrie Tingle has said, "Battlefield Bad Company 2 is NOT a sequel to Battlefield 2 or 2142; it is a sequel to Battlefield Bad Company and as such the list of features matches that of the original game and not that of past Battlefield games." In other words, it was always intended as an offshoot, not a monster, flagship title like previous games have been.

But no matter -- the team has already admitted it was Frostbite's first time on PC and so, limited in ways. According to Battlefield forum mod "crazycanuck", based on his experiences and "some conversations", Frostbite 2 is built from the ground up to "be more efficient and take advantage of the PC's abilities." He also says the team is "very excited about what FB2 and BF3 together are going to produce", especially as they've been in development for a number of years (four to six, word has it).

Again from the mouth of Johann, we're told Frostbite 2 is "developed simultaneously for the strengths of each platform (i.e. we use the best API for each platform)." In other words, it's a multiplatform engine, but a good one that should satisfy all players, no matter the platform, in the same sense BioWare or Capcom have or CD Projekt will be with The Witcher 2.

The other big issue is maps -- BC2 had some pretty small ones and as a result, a smaller player cap. Previous series entries included huge, sprawling maps which made for some real in-depth tactics. For this we go back to May, when senior gameplay designer Alan Kertz wrote to a fan inquiring about the lower play count, "For Battlefield it's bandwidth; we are bandwidth capped on the consoles. For PC, I'd like to get back to big scale 64 player."

It's hard to say then what will happen, but they've said it is clear with them fans want the classic stuff. Perhaps PC players will get their own maps, or maybe console maps will be based on the PC maps but scaled down considerably -- both seem like entirely plausible scenarios. We've seen the latter played out alongside further, bigger scale changes in Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, a console-centric version of Battlefield 2 which came about four months after the PC version. Sadly though, Kertz' response to a fan today regarding this in relation to BC2 says, "It was two completely different games; BC2 is not 2 completely different games. Reality says it costs too much."

That doesn't mean the PC version won't be great -- DICE are clever people, after all. Take this quote from former DICE CEO Fredrik Lilegren who said in February, "What the PC version is going to be, Battlefield 3, I think it's going to absolutely blow everyone away, but I can't tell you what it is, but it will blow people away."

Then there is of course the issue of mods, from which we've seen some truly epic work like the "Desert Combat" 1942 mod (the team went on to help make Battlefield 2 and then create full games of their own like Frontlines: Fuel of War). Then there's Commanders, the "Comma Rose", LAN play, spectating, battlerecorder, and so on. Many of these features, seemingly, are being considered for a future BC2 patch, nevermind BF3. We're not guaranteeing any of these features will be in BF3; we're saying based on the evidence, it looks good.

...I have not read alot of this BF3, but if it works as well as BC2 concerning - "No patching" - No PB problems - ...Im happy.
I want to play the game , not search for solutions how to get the Fu....ng game to work. Hope they EA/Dice do their homework and not letting us repair the eventual problems. ...and I also want to use weapons in a standing upright position like BC2. I really hope there wont be any sandstorm like in Atacama Desert (BC2). Its hard enough to see.

If BF3 moves and plays like BF2, I won't be getting into it either.
But if it's cool with the moves and player action like BC2, then I am good with it.
And I hate that shit that when or if I want to run, damnit, then I want to RUN a long way, or not, but take that damn Huffing and puffing shit out of the Cartoon. It's not real and cartoon people don't get tired. So let me frikken run all I want.

But if you make no limitations on running or advantages to walking then walking becomes pointless. Why walk at all ??? Why not just run everywhere all the time? Why have a walk command at all? "Run" will become the new "Walk".

No no....Roid, I like the walking. I just don't think we really need to have so much "REALISM" in a cartoon game of any type, that my character gets "virtually exausted" with some made up bullshit over how long someone can actually "Run".
They work work work work work on realism and then as soon as you die, you just spawn back and start playing again, which tears a totally new asshole in the "Realism" kick. If you want realism, then when you die in the game, you can NEVER come back...EVER. You are Dead and you cannot play again...It's over. You must then wait for the next game to come out or go back to Monopoly where no one dies.

Bottom Line...
Control over my cartoon. If I want to run a long way, stop putting code in the game making my character stop to catch breath that doesn't exist in the first place.

I guess my point was "If you have unlimited sprint then why would you ever bother walking?......... If you are never gonna walk then why have the "walk" command at all?" I have never understood the crowd that gets caught up in the realism stuff, balanced and interesting gameplay is what makes a game worth playing.

Agreed Roid. I Just don't like to be forced to stop and catch my breath in the game.
The walk/aim in BC2 is perfect. You can actually do a little two-step whilst straffing your opponent. And there's not so much shake in the movement that you cant remain on your target.
Another great thing with the character movement in BC2 is when you tap your run key, it's like your man just heard the Starting Gun in the 200 Meter Dash. "Bam"....and your instantly getting the hell outta there.

I've found the Red Dot is best for the walk/aim, but I like the 4x when stealth mode kicks in.

No argument here. Game logistics and engine limitations are okay. Even Far Cry, much like BF2, makes me feel like I have ankle weights.
And I enjoy the hell out of that game. BF2 assaulted my fun in a negative way early on, when those who ruled the air, ruled the game. I quit or lost interest before everyone got serious with the Infantry Only mode.